Boston pro sports news and analysis from
Brian MacPherson of the New Hampshire Union Leader.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Thomas could be done for the season

There were "20 percent off" signs plastered all over the windows of the Patriots Pro Shop at Gillette Stadium on Monday -- which was fitting, really, because it seems like Bill Belichick is missing at least 20 percent of his roster.

Linebacker Adalius Thomas (broken arm, according to reports) is expected to join Tom Brady (knee), Laurence Maroney (shoulder) and Rodney Harrison (quad) on season-ending injured reserve. It would be a huge blow to a defense that already has had to absorb its share of blows this season.

"We can't do anything about it," defensive lineman Jarvis Green said. "It's a tough loss. Losing Adalius, he's a key to this defense, but we have to move on and get ready for the Jets."

Said linebacker Mike Vrabel, "He's a guy, like a lot of guys, that can play a lot of different positions and play them well. It would be tough. He's a leader and a veteran guy that plays well. We just have to find guys to step up."

Losing Thomas is especially difficult given the age of the linebackers with which he's been playing. First-round pick Jerod Mayo might be the NFL's Defensive Rookie of the Year at the halfway point, and undrafted free agent Gary Guyton has held his own, but Tedy Bruschi isn't going to play 99 percent of the team's defensive snaps the way Thomas did.

Pierre Woods, whose locker is between Mayo and Guyton, got a chance to join his neighbors on the field on Sunday after Thomas went down. The third-year linebacker, formerly an undrafted free agent himself, played every defensive snap from that point forward and said he felt like he acquitted himself pretty well.

"I'm just try to do my job," he said. "That's all it was. That's why they put me out there -- to do your job, and that's what I did."